Episode 8: Prophets Don't Know Everything
Okay, apology time. I've been way remiss in my reviews, to the point where they may not matter anymore, if they ever did in the first place. Fact of the matter is, I finished the series prior to posting my review of episode 7. Unfortunately, life and the holidays and all manner of other things intervened to keep me from doing those writeups. When I finally sat down to render my final three reviews, I realized that I'd forgotten significant elements from the episodes, so hand to block out time to re-watch them. Grr. Maybe this time I'll close the deal.
Obligatory Plot Summary: In the ghost town that is now Stone-In-The-Wood, Aughra heals a wounded threader (mini mind-control Arathim) and chides it for attempting to mind-control her the previous episode. Seladon and her paladin escorts arrive,
tsk tsking at the futile battle that had taken place. Arrogance turned up to 11, Seladon dismisses Aughra's warnings and declares that she will free Stone-In-The-Wood clan by negotiating with the Skeksis and reaffirming Gelfling loyalty. Aughra, crafty as always, slips her eye into Seladon's bag in order to spy on the meeting with the Skeksis, then sends the healed threader to follow. At the Castle of the Crystal, the Skeksis drain the essence of many captured Stone-In-The-Wood fighters, and also the former castle guard who alerted the Skeksis to the brewing guard revolt two episodes prior. With the Skeksis guzzling Essence like it's a Gatsby party, wily Chamberlain convinces the Gruenak slaves to switch the General's vial of essence with a fake, so he will weaken. The Gruenaks, desperate for freedom, agree. The General realizes his Essence isn't rejuvenating him, and is in the midst of a meltdown when Seladon arrives. The Emperor mocks her mercilessly before throwing her in the dungeon with the other surviving Gelflings. Aughra sees Seladon's failure, and the threader retrieves her eye. Elsewhere, Deet and Rian depart the Circle of the Suns by flying through the subterranean tunnels, buoyed by the hot wind known as the Breath of Thra. They reach Grot to discover Arathim have overrun it, mind-controlling the Gelflings with threaders. Deet's possessed little brother, Bobb'n, discovers them and is calling other Arathim to capture them when a darkened Nurloc attacks. Rian saves Bobb'n by distracting the Nurloc. Intrigued, Bobb'n leads Rian and Deet to the main gathering of Arathim, where the Gelflings discover that Grot was the Arathim's ancestral home, until the Skeksis drove them out and replace them with Gelflings. Deet and Rian warn the Arathim the Skeksis intend for them all to be killed by the mad Nurlocs, and the Arathim agree to an alliance with Gelflings. Back at the Castle, Hunter arrives with captive Brea, then promptly collapses, riddled with arrows. Fearing that Hunter was brought down by Gelflings, the Emperor orders that all remaining essence be given to Hunter in order to save him. When this fails, the Emperor orders the draining of every Gelfling on Thra. The Grottan Gelflings and Arathim escape the rampaging Nurlocs by climbing up the Sanctuary tree. The darkened Nurlocs attack the tree itself, and the tree transfers its magic to Deet, who calms the Nurlocs by drawing the darkening out of them into herself. She collapses and Rian carries her to safety.
Musings: This was a solid episode. Exceptionally solid. There was real emotion here, urgency, high stakes. The actions of all the characters felt in line with their personalities, as opposed to doing something because the script demanded it. The hinted romance between Deet and Rian still feels forced and wrong, but at least it remains implied rather than overt. Seladon's meeting with the Skeksis court is a high point in this series, with the arrogant All-Maudra getting a hilariously cruel comeuppance. Seriously, the Skeksis Emperor's deliberate consideration of each of Seladon's proposals before delivering a mocking, "No," is amazing. As is the guffaws and cackles of the other Skeksis, like a pack of junior high kids who'd just figured out how to spell "BOOBIES" on a calculator. And I have to say, the performance of Aughra continues to be outstanding. I'm just amazed at how immediate and tactile the character is. Yes, it's essentially a person
wearing a puppet, but most of the time it feels like an actress wearing very, very good makeup.
There's one more thing I want to bring up--I'd intended to do so several episodes back, but like a dolt, forgot. Remember how back in episode 1 I said there were some apparent deviations from the original movie that felt jarring? Well, Aughra has made comments about setting things in motion and trying to manage outcomes. I've had a growing... suspicion isn't the right word, perhaps wondering? A growing wondering if
Age of Resistance is toying with quantum theory, in that all possible timelines and outcomes are equally valid, equally real, and that Aughra is able to see each of them. That the reality presented in the original
Dark Crystal film is but one possibility that is not necessarily a guaranteed outcome. I am curious as to how this will play out.
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